The dispute revisited a past disagreement over gas prices that saw the supply to Ukraine cut in Jan. 2006.

The Russian state owns 51 percent of Gazprom, which supplies 77 percent of the gas consumed in the Ukraine. The chairman of the board of directors at Gazprom is Russia’s deputy prime minister.

Some commentators have accused Russia of using fuel as a weapon to intimidate its former satellites, which became independent after the fall of the USSR in 1991.

Gazprom argues that it is only asking Ukraine to pay the market rate now that Russian gas subsidies have ended.

On Oct. 4, Gazprom decided to moderate its position on the alleged debt.

According to independent Russian daily Kommersant, that announcement was followed 20 minutes later by President Yushchenko’s surprise proposal to form a “broad-ruling coalition”—a signal that more pro-Kremlin politicians should enter the new government.

Kommersant reported that Tymoshenko “was in a state of shock.” Only the evening before she had declared publicly that she would refuse the post of prime minister rather than ally herself with her pro-Kremlin political opponents.

The independent Russian newspaper Kommersant leaves little doubt about its position on Yushchenko's surprise decision. It states that Gazprom's statements about cutbacks “were an obvious reaction to the Orange victory.” The story finishes with a ray of hope for Orange supporters, relaying the analysis of one optimistic campaigner. Nikolay Onishchuk voices the opinion that the president stopped short of asking for a coalition with the opposition, but merely “urged for a political agreement that will guarantee stability.”

TheFinancial Times reports that a Gazprom spokesman said that it was too early to say that a deal with Ukraine had been reached. In addition, the FT only implies doubt about Tymoshenko’s future as prime minister by employing the past tense in discussing the president’s plans for her: “Yushenko looked poised to resurrect his partnership” with Tymoshenko. But the leader of the opposition to the Orange parties, Viktor Yanukovich, interpreted the president’s most recent announcement as favoring a coalition that would include his pro-Russian faction.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that Ukraine started to reduce its gas consumption on Oct. 2, the day that Gazprom made its announcement regarding an alleged $1.3 billion Ukrainian debt. RIA Novosti writes that Gazprom’s threat to cut supplies “came following preliminary reports that pro-Western ‘orange’ parties had secured enough votes in early parliamentary elections Sunday, and are set to forge a ruling majority.”

In November 2004, the Ukraine held its third presidential election since independence. The battle between pro-West and pro-Russian politicians soon boiled down to a contest between their respective presidential candidates: Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych.

In September, Yuschenko fell ill, and accused his opponents of poisoning him. He recovered in time for the election in November, but the formerly telegenic politician returned to campaigning with a face disfigured by toxins.

Yanukovych won the November election, but the results were annulled amid accusations of vote-rigging.

A rerun was held in December in which Yushchenko and his “Orange” party took power. Yulia Tymoshenko became prime minister.

A doctor treating Yuschenko when he became ill in 2004 said the candidate had “a tremendous amount of dioxin in the blood.” CNN reported that Dr. Michael Zimpfer suspected “third-party involvement.”

According to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, one of the doctors who treated Yushchenko in Sept. ’04, claimed he received death threats after refusing to confirm that the presidential candidate had been poisoned. Dr. Lothar Wicke subsequently lost his job at the Viennese clinic where he had consulted with the ailing Ukrainian politician.

The Financial Times reported in ’04 that Yushchenko became ill after dining with Ukraine’s secret police. The FT also traces a link between Dr. Lothar Wicke, the doctor who denied finding any trace of poison, and the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, an opponent of Yushchenko’s. Kuchma's brother-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk, traveled to Vienna and made contact with the medical staff at the clinic where Yushchenko was staying. A team of PR experts then arrived, who had worked previously with Pinchuk, and arranged a press conference where Wicke, according to the FT, “contradicted Mr. Yushchenko’s poisoning allegations.”

Russia is a principal source of oil and gas for its former Soviet satellites, countries which it has provided with subsidized energy since the break-up of the USSR. As those nations have developed stronger ties with the West, Russia has raised energy prices. Critics see this as an overtly political move to regain control over its old sphere of influence. The Kremlin protests that it is merely good business to charge a competitive rate in line with European prices.

The BBC reports on where Eastern Europe gets its gas, and the importance of Gazprom to a number of countries in the area. Ukraine, for example, gets 77 percent of its gas from the Russian energy giant, 51 percent of which is owned by the state.

On January 1, 2006 Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, closing a pipeline that indirectly feeds gas to other countries in eastern Europe. Some commentators concluded that Russia was punishing Ukraine for the Orange Revolution of 2004, in which the Ukrainian people rejected the Kremlin-backed presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich. However, Gazprom, the Russian energy giant behind the move, said that it was merely charging a fair market rate after years of subsidies.

The Times of London has this to say on the Ukrainian pipeline story: “Russophobes in Washington and elsewhere may find it difficult to accept, but this is business, albeit of a Godfatherish variety."

An independent former Soviet state, Georgia was deprived of Russian gas in January 2006, as was Ukraine. An unusually cold winter was made additionally harsh when near-simultaneous explosions destroyed two important Georgian gas pipelines. Georgian President Saakashvili accused Russia of sabotage, claiming that his country was being attacked in retaliation for his its refusal to sell pipelines to Russia. Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed such remarks as “hysteria.”

The BBC covers the gas dispute between Russia and Georgia and Saakashvili's accusation of Russian "sabotage."

At the end of 2005, Gazprom doubled the prices charged to Georgia for Russian gas. That move coincided with Russian sanctions punishing Georgia for deporting four Russians accused of spying. By December, Georgia was also negotiating with European gas companies to arrange an alternative supply.

Russia suggested Chechen rebels might be responsible for the destruction of the pipelines supplying Georgia. On January 27, 2006, an explosion ruptured a Russian pipeline taking much needed gas into Chechnya during an extremely cold winter.

In Jan. '06, the BBC reported that "gas supplies to parts of Chechnya's capital, Grozny, have been cut off after an accident damaged a gas pipeline running through the Russian region."

On January 8 2007, Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus and, in doing so, cut off Poland, Germany and Ukraine, as well.

The Belarusian gas dispute mirrored the situation with Ukraine and Gazprom the previous winter. Russia doubled oil prices. In return, Belarus demanded transit fees from the Russian companies shipping oil through Belarus. The transit fees were extracted in oil, siphoned from the transit pipeline, which Russia shut off in retaliation.

For further coverage of the strains on relations between Russia and the West, refer to our report on Russian President Putin's visit to the Bush family compound at Kennebunkport: “Putin Finds Limited Common Ground at Bush Family Home.”

In 2005, Forbes named Tymoshenko the third most powerful woman in the world. The magazine notes that President Yushchenko, whose recent move in the ’07 election is likely to push Tymoshenko out of the prime ministerial position, has disappointed Tymoshenko before. He sacked her from the post of prime minister in 2005. According to Forbes, she had drawn too much criticism for “her bold moves to re-privatize industrial assets, allegedly bought on the cheap.”

In May 2007, Tymoshenko published an article in the U.S. journal Foreign Affairs. The piece argues that “Russia’s imperial ambitions did not end with the fall of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin has returned to expansionism, trying to recapture great-power status at the expense of its neighbors.”

The BBC profiled Tymoshenko last year, describing how her political partnership with Viktor Yushchenko was once a “dream ticket” alliance. But in 2006, “She feuded bitterly with some of his top aides and he sacked her.”

Yulia Tymoshenko has been very careful in crafting her appearance since the ’04 Orange Revolution brought her to the forefront of the political stage. She has been variously described as “the Princess Leia of Ukraine” and the “Ukrainian Joan of Arc.” Tymoshenko, who was a wealthy businesswoman before entering politics, is quoted by the BBC as saying, “I created an image of a modest village teacher. A visual type, clothes and haircut, a retro image evoking memories of childhood and schooldays … a Ukrainian archetype.”

Oct. 8—According to Ukrainian paper The Kyiv Post, Tymoshenko agreed to form a coalition government with Yanukovych’s party under certain conditions. Tymoshenko was open to her opponents taking deputy ministerial positions and the position of deputy prime minister. The composition of the new government has yet to be decided.